Dear Editor:
I read with interest the story appearing in the newspapers that Mayor Elwell had written to the Board of Education requesting they rescind the raises recently granted to administrators in our schools. What I found of interest was that Mayor Elwell was in attendance at the Board meeting held on January 11 and did not address the Board on this issue (I was present at this meeting). According to the news story the letter written by Mayor Elwell already had to have been received by the Board at the time of the meeting of January 11. This was a golden opportunity for Mayor Elwell to publicly express his views on the raises and for the Board members to respond in defense of their position. Why did both Mayor Elwell and the members of the Board remain silent on this issue?
Could the reason for this silence of the lambs be due to the fact that neither Mayor Elwell nor the Board would have been able to defend their positions. I imagine both parties were frightened of the three members of the press who were present and would have reported their respective spontaneous comments. Are Mayor Elwell and the Board playing the children’s game, pin the tail on the donkey? Only in real life they are making the taxpayers the donkey. Let me explain.
In his letter the mayor wrote that he was of the belief that the raises, “threaten to undermine the confidence we have won among our residents.” This is a self-serving statement from Elwell who I would remind as to the age-old saying about self praise. Mayor,”self praise stinks.”
In his letter (which he released to the press) Mayor Elwell continues by saying that he further believes that the raises “could place an undue hardship on our taxpayers.”
I challenge Mayor Elwell to advise the taxpayers as to the actual impact (cost) of these raises on the tax rate. Tell us the truth mayor. Show us the cost which you say “could place an undue hardship on our taxpayers.” Let us see what this undo burden is. Mayor Elwell raised the issue with his letter; now he is obligated to advise the people of Secaucus of this cost factor. The cost factor will either support the concerns of the mayor or expose his use of our school system for political reasons.
I personally think that the raises are out of line, and if I were still a member of the Board, I would have spoken out and voted against these raises. Also, two of the administrators who are the beneficiaries of this gift did not warrant the appointments to the positions they now hold.
The bottom line is that neither Mayor Elwell nor the members of the Board have the courage to address this issue in front of the public. They prefer hiding behind letters given to the press and private comments made to reporters and newspapers they favor. The victims of this lack of credibility are the children and the citizens of Secaucus.
Tom Troyer